It's a cliché, sure, but I was not going to spend a weekend in Venice without seeking out the perfect bellini.
It's worth the search because this combination of white peach juice and sparkling prosecco can head towards the stickily sweet if you're not careful (I'm talking about you, Ca'Sagredo Hotel).
What you need is a barman who knows how to squeeze fresh peach juice and shake it with enough ice so that a thin layer forms on the top of the drink, just as with a good martini.
You can, of course, head to Harry's Bar to see barman Claudio Ponzio. He manages to make an excellent drink despite the hordes of tourists who would pay homage no matter what he poured.
But for me, it was the Gritti Palace that managed the best bellini I've ever had. Served in oversized chilled champagne coupes, with one part peach juice to one part prosecco ("It's important to press some of the pink skin into the juice to give a deeper tinge, and also to ensure more structure and bite to the juice itself," says our beautifully dressed barman), it offered the perfect "hint of summer" combination of gentle bubbles (the prosecco was stirred first to temper its exuberance slightly) and fresh, fragrant juice.
It's pretty much a given that the 15th-century Venetian painter Giovanni Bellini never tasted the drink that bears his name; the link comes because his paintings were often said to have a pink glow about them.
But then you're also unlikely to find many bars serving bellinis in prosecco country itself. This lies just an hour or so to the north of Venice, and the locals there like to serve their prosecco neat, in a small wine glass, ideally accompanied by a plate of Asiago cheese, another staple of the local mountains.